Return
by darkanine
Summary: A reporter and a dilettante follow a lead in the form of a mysterious stranger and find that the rumored underwater city of Rapture is a very real, very dangerous place.
1. Flight

**Alright, here it is. First chapter of the rewritten version of _Forget_. And when I say 'rewritten', I mean completely rewritten. There were a lot of things that didn't make sense in the original story, so... bluh. I replayed both of the original games (plus Infinite, holy shit) and did some research into the timeline of Rapture, and things have been changed accordingly. **

**I actually have most of the story plotted out this time, and I've done some more writing with these characters in other things, so hopefully that helps with the continuity. And, since I actually have a plot to follow this time, updates will probably be more frequent, time permitting. Praise Jegus.**

**I'll be the first to admit that the first couple chapters are going to be kind of boring, so... bear with me. Anyways, I'll shut up, now. Thanks for reading.**

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When she had first agreed to take the story, Bianca Heuer hadn't expected much to come from it. She had been a little annoyed that she had been sent out to get the skinny on some sensationalist Loch Ness monster chase for the sake of readership, to be sure, but never would she have imagined that she would be on a plane to Iceland to investigate a rash of disappearances. People vanished all the time, but something had stood out about this particular set of cases. First, all of the victims had been children - little girls between the ages of six and nine. Second, there had been more than one report of a massive, gangly figure in a diving suit disappearing into the ocean around the time that the girls had vanished.

She hadn't believed it for a second, upon hearing it, but she had spoken to the witnesses nonetheless and after chasing down a few dead ends, she had uncovered something that made her even less likely to believe the stories she was hearing. Tales of an Atlantis-esque underwater city, free from the influence of any established government, were making their way around the seedy underbelly of New York City, apparently spawning from a particular gang of thugs that occasionally did business with the place. A contact with connections to the gang had at least confirmed that a very strange smuggling operation had been going on until a couple years previously.

"Religious memorabilia," Lyra had said somewhat contemptuously, her red-painted lips wrapped around a cigarette with a hint of a smile tugging at the corners. "Smuggling bibles. Strangest thing I've ever heard of." She had paused and taken the cancer stick out of her mouth, a frown touching her features as she added, "If you ever do find out what happened to 'em, let me know, won't you?"

And so she had. In the plane seat beside her, Lyra Valentin dozed gracefully, her petite form curled a little toward the window. When Bianca had told the young woman that she had a lead on where the smugglers had vanished to, and that this underwater city might have some connection to the her current investigation, Lyra had demanded to be included on the grounds that one of the smugglers had something of hers and she wanted it back. It had been impossible to say no to her, especially when her father had taken an interest in the whole ordeal. Daddy Dearest had actually funded the expedition, putting up the money for all three plane tickets as soon as his little girl had turned her big pleading eyes his way.

The third ticket. She had almost forgotten about the last member of her investigation – another lead who had actually promised that he could take her to this underwater metropolis. Phineas. Arguably the most important asset, though she supposed that being able to find the place wouldn't mean much if they couldn't get there. She glanced around, unable to recall where he sat in relation to herself and Lyra in the haze of sleepiness and jetlag.

"_All passengers should return to their seats now. We'll be touching down in about ten minutes. We appreciate your cooperation and thank each and every one of you for choosing Pan American Airways."_

Bianca let out a little sigh and pushed a lock of chocolate brown hair away from her face. Flying made her nervous. She nudged Lyra with her elbow and said, "Hey, wake up. We're about to land."

"One more hour," the girl replied, her nose wrinkling in displeasure.

"I'll just ask them to fly in circles for a bit, then," Bianca said, rolling her viridian eyes in annoyance. Lyra nodded blearily and moved to roll over once more, but Bianca took her arm and shook it lightly. "Oh, come now, you've been sleeping almost the entire time we've been flying."

"I don't see any problem with that," Lyra retorted sleepily, but she sat up and knuckled sleep from her eyes anyways. She pushed her white-blonde hair away from her face and turned her light grey eyes reproachfully upon her friend. "So what's the plan?"

"We'll have to ask our friend once we've landed," Bianca responded with a shrug. "I expect that he has something in mind."

Lyra did not seem impressed. "I thought you said he sounded like a lunatic on the phone," she muttered, lowering her voice in hopes that nobody would overhear them.

"It's a bit late to start having doubts now," her friend hissed back irately. "Besides, he has the fucking coordinates tattooed on his arm. If worse comes to worst we'll just take 'em to a professional navigator and leave without him."

The slender creature beside her lifted an eyebrow but nodded slightly, apparently satisfied with this conclusion. Bianca settled into her seat and buckled the safety belt in anticipation of the descent. Her friend could be a bit of a princess at times, but she was clever. Just as well that she had come along, if half of the stories she had heard about his place – _Rapture_ – had a shred of truth to them.

A few rows behind the girls, Phineas Carlisle was staring intently at the back of the seat before him, knee bobbing with nervous energy. His seatmate seemed a little disgruntled by his unconscious twitching, but the man's pointed glares and throat-clearings went entirely unnoticed by the redhead beside him.

His mind was racing, vacillating rapidly between elation, uncertainty, and fear, and occasionally a mixture of all three. There were so many unknowns involved in this little expedition, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty for dragging a couple of broads along for the ride.

Not guilty enough to call off the trip altogether, of course. This was his only chance; there was no way he'd be able to fund a journey back on his own. He had mentioned in passing the potential danger in heading down to the underwater city as one might mention that there are, in fact, bears on a mountain when departing for a camping trip. Neither female had seemed especially perturbed by this information, although he had a feeling that some of the brunette's bravery stemmed from her lack of faith that the city existed in the first place.

If he was being honest, he wasn't quite sure where his own bravery was coming from. He had been there when Rapture had gone to hell, if only briefly, and though his hopes were high that Ryan had since set things right, the image of a drug-addled, subhuman creature hurling itself at the porthole of the bathysphere as he fled the city in the wake of the destruction surfaced in his mind and sent a chill up his spine.

Phineas was jarred from his thoughtful stupor by a dig in the ribs from his seatmate, who was looking at him reproachfully as people around them gathered their luggage from the overhead compartments. He hopped up, mumbling apologetically as he grabbed his things quickly and moved out of the way, up the aisle toward his companions.

"Doin' alright there, ladies?" he inquired, whiskey-colored eyes flickering between the two girls as he offered a charming half-smile.

Bianca glanced over her shoulder and arced an eyebrow at him as she stretched to pull her suitcase down. "Just swell," she grunted in reply, giving a hearty tug and freeing her friend's bag from the overhead compartment. She passed it off to Lyra and turned to get her own bag, but found that their taller compatriot had shifted slightly into their row and reached past them both, pulling the luggage down with ease.

"Shall we?" the redhead inquired, slinging his own bag over his shoulder and inclining his head toward the door. The line of passengers had thinned sufficiently to allow them to get off without any hassle, and Phineas headed for the door without waiting on a response, Bianca's bag still in tow.

"Hang on, bring that back!" she hissed after him, but did not seem to hear her as he continued on and disappeared out the cabin door.

Lyra laughed quietly and gave her flustered friend an amused smirk, commenting as she started after him, "Chivalry isn't dead, after all."

"_Chivalry_," Bianca repeated scathingly, rolling her eyes.

The women found their guide waiting for them just outside the door, an easy grin still on his lips as he held Bianca's bag out for her to take. She snatched it away and gave him a sour look, but her annoyance evaporated quickly as she looked around and it sank in that she was out of New York City for the first time in what felt like ages.

"So, Phineas," Lyra began, noting her friend's temporary lapse in attention as people milled about on all sides. "What's the plan?"

He frowned slightly, then shrugged. "Got t'rent us a boat, first off," he replied. He held up a hand to stem the blonde's questions he could sense building on the tip of her tongue and smiled wanly. "Relax, lassie, I'm not going to be the one navigating. I know a guy." The tall, lean male shifted slightly, casting an impatient glance toward the door. "If you've got all your things, I suggest we get goin' if we plan on makin' it out there before it gets dark."

Bianca looked over at him sharply, brow furrowing. "What, you mean today? We have reservations at a hotel, if we don't show up, they'll come looking for us," she told him, struggling to keep a note of suspicion out of her tone.

"You kin give your people a call an' let 'em know there's been a change of plans," Phineas responded dismissively, slinging an arm about both females' shoulders and steering them toward the exit. This was going to be a long week.

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**New characters, ahoy. **

**As ever, let me know what you think. Next chapter should be up relatively soon. Huzzah!**


	2. Lighthouse

**Jegus, it's been a while, huh?** **Remember that time when I said that this particular chapter would be up shortly? I lied, whoops. I wish I could say that I'm going to have time to update like aaaaaaall the time and that was just a temporary situation, but I'm unfortunately still very busy so updates will come as I have time to write them. I did the thing, though, and have a physical copy of the story that I can just... you know... write when I have time, so there's that. But yeah Pokemon X/Y is coming out this week so you're kind of S.O.L. for a week or so once that becomes a thing in my life. Sorry. uvu**

**This chapter is kind of long because I basically wanted to get all of the introduction stuff done as quickly as possible, so there's a good bit to read... but on the bright side, the next update will be more interesting. That's fair, right? I don't know. I'll stop talking.**

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It didn't take overly long for the trio to flag a taxi and get on their way to the small, coastal city that Bianca could not pronounce from which they would supposedly be embarking. The driver seemed a bit baffled when informed of their destination, as expected. There was nothing there that would be of interest to tourists, as they appeared to be. The reporter had done a bit of research once their previously unnamed contact had revealed where they would be going – partially for the sake of the story, to be sure, but mainly to avoid being tricked into anything and slaughtered by a lunatic. Having met Phineas and confirmed him to be a friendly (if a little rough) Irishman, she was… still a bit wary, honestly.

That being the case, Bianca was somewhat perturbed to discover that Lyra and Phineas got on quite well, chatting casually as she sat between them in sullen silence. Her friend had a bit more experience dealing with truly unsavory types, but this stranger probably wasn't as worried about crossing the girl's mob boss father as he might have been were they a few thousand miles closer to him. As it was, they would be lucky if anybody noticed if anything happened to them at all. As nice as he seemed, Bianca had not been able to find a shred of information on this 'Phineas Carlisle' no matter where she looked. Hardly surprising, in retrospect, since he was clearly European, but that didn't change the fact that he could be the Pope's nephew for all she knew.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a light nudge in the ribs from Lyra, who was standing outside of the cab holding the door. "Come on," the blonde urged, tilting her head slightly and gesturing for her friend to get out.

The brunette crawled over the seat and exited the car, casting a glance around at their surroundings. She wasn't sure how long she had been zoned out in the car, but it had been long enough for them to make it all the way the coastline. A beach, grey and uninviting in the chilly November air, was visible just a few yards away, and a lighthouse reached for the heavens on a rocky cliff a ways away. Phineas' brilliant orange hair stood out against the dreary sky, the man himself already halfway up the cobblestone path to the lighthouse, bags in arm.

"What do you think of him?" Bianca asked quietly as the taxi slipped away behind them. She made no move to follow their guide, standing instead with her arms folded and her eyes trained on the redhead as he moved away from the girls.

Lyra moved to stand beside her in a similar stance, though her expression was thoughtful rather than suspicious as she responded, "He seems genuine enough. About wanting to return home, at any rate." She paused and shrugged, smoothing the skirt of her short green dress and making to follow after Phineas before he reached the door. "I'd be more worried about the residents of this city of his, personally. You'd have to be a bit daffy to want to live underwater, don't you think?"

Bianca gave a little sigh, deciding it best not to mention that Phineas himself professed to have lived in this city at one point, and followed her friend. She still didn't especially like the idea of going out in a boat in search of some underwater city that she was almost positive was made up, and she liked it even less, knowing that she and Lyra were going to be outmuscled by not only Phineas, but whoever this friend of his was as well.

The ladies joined Phineas just as the heavy oak door swung inward a little to reveal a short, dark-complected man with a somewhat irate expression on his face. He seemed about to say something to the redhead before him, but the presence of unfamiliar women seemed to stay his tongue, for the time being.

"Ladies, this is Calvin," Phineas said with a grin, gesturing with Lyra's bag toward the slight figure hovering in the doorway. "He's the guy I was tellin' ye about what's gonne be helpin' us out."

"That's my name," the man replied cautiously, his accent distinctly American. He eyed the party on his doorstep, not opening the door any wider as he added, "Though I don't recall agreeing to helping anyone with anything, least of all the likes of _you_." He turned a sour gaze on Phineas before giving his companions a halfheartedly apologetic shrug.

"Now, Cal, you ain't even heard what I got t'say," the redhead wheedled, that charming half-smile appearing on his handsome features. Bianca did not think that this 'Cal' wanted to hear what Phineas had to say, but the Irishman shouldered his way inside nonetheless and Lyra trailed in after him, looking none too perturbed by this act of breaking and entering.

Bianca sighed and followed suit as it became apparent that the poor owner of the building didn't have any intention of shooting the intruders, although she could not say that she would have blamed him. Her shoes made muffled noises on the carpet covering the floor as she crossed the threshold and glanced to the side where Calvin was now standing, his arms folded and a rather cross expression on his face.

"I'm not interested, Carlisle," the shorter male growled, giving Phineas a look of pure venom as he set the bags at the foot of a wooden staircase a few feet from the door. "And you…" He turned his green eyes on the girls and gave them a stern look. He was shorter than Bianca, and probably not much older, so she didn't find the display particularly intimidating, but her ears pricked up as he continued, "I'd leave this bogtrotter to his own devices if I was you, ladies."

Bianca tilted her head slightly, prompting the dark-haired male to elaborate, but Lyra spoke up before he could continue. "Oh, he isn't as bad as all that," she said dismissively. Phineas seemed pleased that someone was vouching for his character, but Bianca knew that tone of voice – the one the girl adopted when she wanted something. "Won't you at least listen to what he's asking?"

"Doesn't seem like I have a choice, does it?" Calvin replied sullenly, giving Phineas another toxic glare before motioning for the group to follow him. He led them through to a small sitting area bedecked in a decidedly nautical theme. He sank into one of the three dark maroon armchairs facing an unlit fireplace, gesturing vaguely and growling, Sit if you're going to and get on with it, before I change my mind."

Phineas flung himself immediately into the chair nearest their unwilling host and began talking very quickly in a hushed tone. Whatever he was saying, he didn't seem to want his companions to hear.

A little suspicious of the Irishman's intentions but unwilling to insert herself into the conversation and risk saying the wrong thing, Bianca stepped back and took in the room. She shook her head as Lyra caught her eye and gestured toward the remaining unoccupied chair, taking a pointed step toward a bookshelf and looking it over. Might as well have a look around and try to work out what sort of person their guide was recruiting for their little journey. As she heard her friend sit down, her eyes were drawn to a framed black and white photograph displayed on the shelf at eye level depicting three young men on a beach – one tall, one short, and one in between. When she picked it up to examine it more closely, it didn't take long to identify Calvin, and (somewhat surprisingly) Phineas, though she didn't recognize the third man in the picture. He was a good deal taller than either of his compatriots, whoever he was, which wouldn't have struck her as particularly odd if she hadn't been standing beside Phineas not a moment before. The redhead was no giant, but he was probably just shy of six feet tall.

She had half a mind to ask who the man was in case he was a prospective fifth member to their little adventure crew, but a sudden noise of glee and a subsequent grunt of surprise drove the thought from her head for the moment. It was fairly easy to guess exactly what had happened at a glance – Phineas was wearing an expression somewhere between bewildered and impressed as he looked over at Lyra, now clinging to Calvin with her face hidden in his chest, his own features obviously crimson as he attempted to keep his expression neutral.

As Phineas got up and made his way over to Bianca, standing back and shaking his head slightly, the brunette arced an eyebrow at him and asked quietly, "What was all that?"

"Witchcraft, I expect," he replied with a shrug. Bianca could only nod.

A little while later, after a brief period of preparation, the foursome found themselves on a dock, examining the small boat that would be taking them wherever it was they were going.

"Exactly how far out are we going to be going in this thing?" Lyra asked a little dubiously. She had changed, at Phineas' behest, into a pair of trousers and a too-large button up shirt which she had almost certainly pilfered from her giant of a brother. It was strange, seeing her dressed that way given her usual affinity for dresses and makeup, but somehow it still suited her better than the pants and shirt that Bianca herself had had to borrow from Phineas. "I'm not certain that this thing is sea-worthy."

Calvin made a somewhat indignant noise at her comment and jumped onto the deck. "It's fine," he snapped, turning back to the dock and holding out a hand to assist the ladies across the space between the dock and the rocking boat. "Come on, then, mind the gap, darlin'."

Phineas hopped over as Calvin helped the girls across and tossed his bag down at the back of the vessel. As she was jumping into the boat, Bianca thought she might have seen the corner of a picture frame sticking out of the bag, but by the time she could really look, the redhead had leaned down and reshuffled the contents as he dug for something.

"How long will this take?" she asked, eyes shifting from Phineas to Calvin. "And how will you know that we've arrived?"

"Even you'll be able to tell when we get there," the dark-haired male replied without looking at her. He seemed to be checking some things on the ship to make sure everything was in order. "As for how long it'll take…"

Phineas brushed by her and pushed a heavy, hard-backed tome into her hands, muttering as he did, "You'll want this."

Bianca heaved a sign and sat down on the padded bench to the side of the ship, looking down at the book in her hands. Some psychology textbook, surprisingly enough; she hadn't pegged Phineas as the academic type. She felt the boat begin to move as the engine roared to life and looked up from the book to see Lyra and Phineas chatting easily once more as though they had been friends for years.

"Well, _miz Lamb_, looks like it's just you and me."

The sky had gone a dusky purple and it was becoming too dark to read when Bianca finally saw it. Amidst the dark, crashing waves expanding endlessly in each direction, a lighthouse protruded, cutting a black silhouette against the violet sky that would be impossible to miss except in the worst of weather.

"What the hell..?" she murmured under her breath, standing up to get a better look and jumping when the book slipped out of her lap and hit the deck with a heavy thud.

"It's just like you said," Lyra breathed, her eyes fixed on the building in the distance.

"Did you think I had lied, milis?" Phineas returned softly. His eyes were also fixed on the lighthouse, but his expression was not one of surprise or wonder. His face was inscrutable as he watched it grow larger on the horizon until he shifted his gaze to Calvin and said, "There's not really a dock… How close can ye get us?"

"Close enough to tie up, I hope," he responded with a shrug. He glanced back upon hearing the noise of absolute disbelief that Bianca made and grinned. "Think of it this way: if I shipwreck us, at least it'll be on the lighthouse."

Through luck or skill, though, the young man was able to bring his boat close enough for Phineas to jump to the stairs leading up to the lighthouse with a rope and tie it off well enough to allow the others to leap over as well. The steps were slick and dangerous, but none of them ended up in the water or on their pockets, which was probably a victory in itself.

"How long is that going to last, though?" Bianca asked finally, eyeing the rope securing the boat to the island of rock.

"Four days, max," Calvin admitted, looking doubtfully at the waves jarring his ship and hitting the rock. "Probably more like three."

"Then we'd better get going," Lyra responded matter-of-factly, turning and starting up the steps. "_You_ have a story to write, and _I_… need to reclaim my property."

"Reclaim your property?" Calvin echoed as the rest of them followed her up the stairs. "Sweetheart, I hate to tell you this, but Rapture is a big place. You'd have to have Tyche herself on your side to find something down there."

"Then I pray that she is," the girl replied with a shrug.

"That's the spirit, lassie," Phineas murmured absently, picking up the pace a bit as the steps dried and they neared the landing at the top. He reached it first, having the longest stride, and gave a quiet gasp that made Bianca run a little faster to catch up.

"What's wrong? Are you – oh," she breathed as she reached the top of the stairs and turned to see what he was looking at. A set of huge, golden double doors loomed over them, slightly ajar as though someone had been expecting them.

"Shall we?" Phineas asked cheerfully, snapping out of his stunned silence as Lyra and Calvin joined them at the top of the steps. Without waiting for an answer, he took a step toward the entry, hand outstretched, and pushed open the door.

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**Alright, well, boring introduction nonsense has been taken care of now. Hooray? uvu **

**Anyways yeah, Pokemon X and Y are coming out this week and I'll probably be occupied with that for an age and a half, so I'm going to try and get another chapter written and posted _before_ any of that nonsense happens. We'll see how that goes.**

**Reviews are, as ever, appreciated. Let me know what you think so far. Thanks for reading. :3**


	3. Rapture

**Turns out, having a physical copy of my writing seriously helps me get my butt in gear/procrastinate more efficiently. Not that Iwant to procrastinate _on_ writing; it's just easier to decide to sit down and write a couple pages instead of, say, doing the dishes when I have it in writing. Maybe that's not a good thing. Ah, well. **

**Thank you to everyone who has actually read this far, and extra thanks to the people who comment. It's always nice to read what you think of my story/writing, and especially fun to read what you think is going to happen in the future. ;3**

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The doors swung inward with little resistance revealing only darkness for a long moment until a click and a whir sounded and several bright lights flickered to life and illuminated the large room before them. At the centre of the room stood a bronze bust of a man holding a somewhat faded red banner reading 'no gods or kings – only man'.

"How optimistic," Lyra commented as she slipped past Phineas and Bianca to get a better look at the inside of the lighthouse. "Tell me, how well did this venture into true capitalism fare?"

"Well enough," Phineas replied evasively. He stepped inside, a little more cautiously than Lyra had, and took a cursory look around. He approached a set of stairs that Bianca only later registered as being odd – they went down rather than up – and peered over the banister, down to the second level. "Still seems pretty nice, all things considered."

"_What_ things considered?" Bianca demanded, lifting an eyebrow.

"It's… been a while, I imagine," Phineas replied a tad hesitantly. "Not many people lookin' to leave, even fewer know where to look if they wanted to get in."

Bianca nodded slightly, moving further into the room and making her way over to one of the sets of stairs leading further down. She didn't exactly buy that explanation he had given her, but at the moment she was beyond caring. After all her skepticism, she was close enough to the mysterious city that she could feel the excitement of discovery sending chills through her, gooseflesh creeping up her arms as she descended the staircase. Was she really looking forward to being proven wrong this much?

At the bottom, she found herself looking most immediately at the other set of stairs, which predictably circled down and ended opposite the one she was on, making this room as symmetrical as the one above. Between the staircases, though, was something Bianca had never seen before. A small-ish bronze capsule of a room, furnished with plush red seats that might not have been out of place on a particularly nice train, was held in place in a pool of dark water by a set of metal arms. Inside, she could see a lever that she assumed would release the thing into the water when pulled.

"What in the world is that?"

Bianca glanced up to see Lyra at the foot of the opposite staircase peering at the capsule, Calvin trailing closely behind her. "A submersible of some sort, I think," she responded, taking a step toward the thing to get a better look inside. She was about to step inside when she felt a hand on her wrist yanking her back.

"It's called a bathysphere," Phineas told her, releasing her arm and giving her a reproachful look. "Don't touch things you don't know about, aye?"

"Bathysphere, huh?" Lyra asked, peeking around Bianca and Phineas into the small submersible. Her grey eyes flickered over to the redhead and she inquired, "Is that how we're getting down there?"

"Aye, assuming that it's still in working order," he responded. He took a cautious step forward, placing a foot inside the bathysphere and testing his weight. When it didn't seem to move, he stepped inside and looked around for a moment before shrugging to himself and looking back at his companions. "Seems alright to me."

"Is that your expert opinion?" Lyra asked. Despite the obvious note of sarcasm in her tone, she followed him onto the vessel without hesitation and sat down.

Bianca was less immediately willing to put her faith in Phineas' 'expert opinion', but as Calvin joined the others, she decided that there really wasn't much choice at this point. The brunette boarded and took a seat beside Lyra, then watched as Phineas reached over and pulled the switch on the wall.

Nothing happened at first, and a collective sigh of dismay went through the party before being interrupted by a whirring and a metallic clang as the opening sealed itself and the bathysphere was freed from its supports. Depth markers flashed by the window as they descended and Bianca felt her ears pop uncomfortably. A moment later, a screen appeared and blocked their view of the window, replacing it with what seemed to be an infomercial about the underwater city.

"_I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?..._"

"Isn't that the man from the statue?" Bianca asked as a photo of a man in a suit flashed on the screen accompanying the audio. Phineas nodded slightly.

"He sounds like my father," Lyra commented, not bothering to hide her disdain.

"'_No,' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers'; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture._"

The screen rose on this last word and both females gasped. Beyond the pane of thick glass was a city, illuminated from within and as beautiful as any metropolis ever was. Neon signs advertised products that they had never heard of and marked destinations as though the dark shapes gliding gracefully through the water might have any interest in stopping by Finley's.

"_A city where the artist would not fear the censor, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, where the great would not be constrained by the small! And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can be your city as well._"

They continued along in silence for a moment as a shark swam by alarmingly near their little submersible, its glassy black eyes not seeming to register the life forms just a few feet away behind nothing more than a pane of glass. The shark swam away, but a sudden burst of static made them all jump as something under one of the seats crackled to life. Calvin leaned over and shuffled around under his seat for a moment, resurfacing with an old radio in hand just in time to hear a hoarse male voice croon, "_Fresh meat heading for the Kashmir, lovelies._"

Bianca's eyes shot to Phineas, whose face was screwed up in confusion as he stared at the radio in Calvin's hand. "Phineas…" she said slowly, her gaze searching and suspicious as the fizzing stopped and the signal went dead once more.

"I dunno," he admitted, his expression still troubled as he looked over to meet her gaze. The redhead gave a forcedly nonchalant shrug and leaned over to dig in his bag – he was the only one who had bothered to take his things with him from the boat, and when he sat up with a revolver in hand, Bianca could see why. Noting the look on Calvin's face as he resurfaced with a gun in hand, he shrugged once more and said, "Better safe than dead, aye?" The shorter man nodded slightly and reached into the inner pocket of his blazer, pulling out a small pistol of his own and checking to make sure it was loaded.

"Guns?" Bianca snapped incredulously. Her tirade was interrupted by a gasp as the bathysphere darkened briefly upon entering what seemed to be a docking station in one of the towering buildings. As they continued through a darkened corridor, her voice dropped to a hissing whisper and she growled, "What _exactly_ is down here that made those necessary, pray tell?"

Phineas looked over at her and smiled grimly, replying simply, "People."

There was a muffled splashing noise as the bathysphere broke the surface of the water within the building. It took a moment to adjust to the darkness, but eventually Bianca was able to make out an enormous pane of glass on the opposite end of the room… and a great deal of debris littering the room between it and them. Broken bottles and overturned tables scattered the floor and the lights flickered, threatening to go out at any moment. She thought she saw the shape of a human picking its way through the mess, but the light went out for a second and when it came back on, the shape was gone.

"It's a ruin," Bianca murmured, turning to Phineas and fixing him with a disbelieving stare. He did not seem to hear her – his hazel eyes were wide and his jaw slack. Whatever he had been expecting to see, this was not it.

"Phin, there's no way… we should g-"

Calvin's quiet suggestion was drowned out by the earsplitting screech of tearing metal and they all let out varying noises of surprise as sparks rained down on them as the ceiling of the bathysphere was ripped open. Lyra let out a scream as she looked up to see a monstrous face grinning down at them from the gash in the metal.

"What the bleeding _fuck_ is that?" the blonde breathed shrilly, clutching her chest and stumbling backward into the seat as the thing leapt off the top of the capsule. "You said there were _people_ down here, not _demons_."

"They _are_ people. Or, were." The girls' heads whipped around to look at Calvin, whose gaze was directed out the window as he continued, "They've been corrupted by ADAM."

"And who is Adam?" Bianca snapped through gritted teeth. She jumped again as she saw the silhouette of a person – no, two people flit by in the brief flicker of light.

"Shh," Phineas commanded abruptly, squinting through the darkness, the befuddled look returning to his features. "I… aw, fuck." His confusion melted away in favor of something like panic as Bianca finally saw what he was looking at.

At the top of the staircase to the left of them, she could just make out a cluster of yellow lights becoming visible through the darkness of an unlit corridor, anatomically much too high to be at eye level. And now that she was looking, just near it… "Is that a _child_?!"

"That ain't no child, lassie," Phineas spat bitterly, backing away from the window, his eyes never leaving the balcony. "You speak of demons, well, there you are."

Bianca had no time to dwell on the implications of his words, though, as a loud cackle brought her eyes back down from the balcony to a masked man in tattered clothes who had just flung himself bodily at the bathysphere with a wrench, to little avail. She shrank away, covering her face and shouting, "Shoot it!"

No gunshots ensued, but a scream – that of a child – did, followed immediately by an inhuman roar of what could only be rage. At the bottom of the stairs, another deformed human was brandishing a pipe at a little girl with faintly luminescent eyes as a hulking figure with angry red lights where its face probably should have been on its huge frame revved what seemed to be a great drill mounted on its arm. The man didn't get a chance to run before the behemoth seized him by the head and rammed its drill through his body in a spray of viscera that flew far enough to hit the window of the capsule. Phineas moaned and averted his gaze.

The mutated person outside the submersible, now covered in his friend's entrails, let out a howl of rage, turning to charge the enormous creature and finding too late that it was already upon him. It let out another roar and grabbed him by the head and, this time, lifted the poor fellow off the ground and smashed him face-first into the window of the bathysphere until the reinforced glass was cracked and the man's head was a mess.

The group sat stock-still, flecks of blood and brain matter speckling them where bits had made it through the broken glass. Red light fell on them through the window for what seemed like an eternity until finally, _finally_, the light turned yellow and disappeared. Bianca let out a noise somewhere between a sigh of relief and a choked sob, letting her head fall into her hands. Lyra wiped a spatter of blook off her cheek and examined her sleeve afterward, completely soundless as she seemed to still be processing what had just happened.

Calvin was the first to regain his senses, shifting to a crouch and peeking out the window to survey the room as Phineas stared straight ahead and rotated the cylinder of his revolver absently. "We need to get going," he said finally, glancing over his shoulder at his shocked companions. When nobody responded, he moved to kneed beside his redheaded friend and jabbed him sharply in the chest with his index finger and snapped, "Come on, you don't get to check out now. Help me get them moving before the Daddy comes back."

Still not entirely responsive, Phineas nodded slightly and moved to a crouch. The shorter man directed him toward the blonde who, beside being a good deal smaller and thus easier to sling over someone's shoulder if need be, was not hysterical, which Calvin did not think his friend could handle in his present state.

Lyra, luckily, came easily enough; she snapped back to the present the instant Phineas touched her hand. Indeed, the girl seemed more prepared to handle the situation than Phineas did.

Her brunette friend needed a bit more coaxing, and even then she could only be led, sniffing, from the bathysphere as Lyra murmured reassuringly in her ear and directed her gaze away from the gore smeared on the floor. They made it to the foot of the stairs before Phineas with a jolt that he had left his bag in the bathysphere and refused to go any further without it. So, the group waited nervously as he ran back through the wreckage to retrieve his things.

Phineas was already in the bathysphere when Lyra wondered aloud, "Did that thing get the one that tore open the sub, as well?" A cackle answered her inquiry and another malformed human, this one obviously female, crawled over the top of the bathysphere like a spider.

The redhead must have heard the shuffling on the roof because he snatched his bag and bolted, although this didn't help his situation much. As soon as he was out the door, the crazed female pounced, a sickle in her grasp. She landed hard on his back and sent him sprawling, the gun in his hand skittering away.

"Where ya goin', handsome?" the woman hissed, positioning herself on the small of his back so he couldn't move. She cackled gleefully and tangled her dirty fingers in his ginger hair, pulling his head back to expose his neck and pressing her blade against his adam's apple. "Stick around and play for a while, I'll make ya feel real good."

He winced as the sickle dug into his flesh a little, setting his jaw against the pain and resolving not to cry in front of a couple of girls so he could at least die a man's death. This resolve did not last overly long as a loud bang echoed and he felt the curved blade bite his skin a little more, letting out a dry sob before realizing he was still more or less intact. The woman's grip on his hair loosened and her weapon clattered to the floor as she slumped on top of him, something warm and wet spreading across his shirt between his shoulder blades – blood. Phineas lifted himself off the ground a bit, struggling a little with the dead weight on his back, and saw Lyra with his gun in her hand, eyes narrowed and a snarl on her lips as she watched to make sure he got up. Bianca was no longer sniffling piteously, and both she and Calvin looked about as surprised as Phineas felt.

"I, uh… urgh," Phineas fumbled for words as he shrugged the woman off his prone form, nothing as she tumbled aside the bullet hole right through one of her eyes. "Good form, sweet'eart."

"Just get your things," the girl muttered, holding the gun out to him as he approached. "We need to leave."

* * *

**Alright, that's it for chapter three. I hope you liked it. uvu **

**I definitely have most of the next chapter planned at this point, so I'm hoping to get it all written and typed up pretty soon, but... Pokemon X on Saturday. u So no promises on that front, although something Pokemon-related might be unavoidable at this point since Pokemon: Origins is so awesome and the new game and ugh. This is my priority, though, as fanfiction stuff goes. ouo b**

**Okay, that's it for this time! Please leave a comment if you have any input or concerns. **


	4. Telekinesis

**Alright, so I managed to get about two thirds of this written before I picked up Pokemon X on Saturday, so I figured I'd finish up the chapter during a brief period of not wanting to stare at a screen after word. To be fair, I was still staring at a screen as I typed it up, but I'm not looking to get technical here. **

**You may have to cut me a bit of slack here, since I was understandably preoccupied with the impending release of the newest installment of my favorite video game franchise. I hope I did the inevitable first-time plasmid sequence justice, hehe.**

* * *

"Honestly, Bianca, my father is an arms dealer. Did you think he would let me be absolutely helpless in case of an emergency?"

The blonde walked just ahead of the rest of the group, her mood gradually deteriorating as Bianca continually pestered her about the incident with the gun. Phineas had declined to take the firearm from her as they ascended the stairs, telling her that she was probably a better shot than he was anyway. This, for some reason, made Calvin laugh. Apart from a murmured 'thank you', though, he had let the subject drop quickly upon noting the drop in her mood following the incident.

"How often had you had to do things like that, though?" Bianca asked, trying to catch up and letting out a frustrated sigh as the girl increased her gait enough to stay ahead. "You're in nursing school! I thought you wanted nothing to _do_ with your father's business."

The reporter was not taking the entire ordeal as well as her friend, though she had not shut down entirely which was a good sigh. However, the news that the girl she had been friends for years might not be as innocent as she had once thought seemed to be the piece of bad news that she had latched onto. All things considered, not the worst thing that could have happened, but she was definitely wearing on the girl's nerves.

"Can't have what you want a hundred percent of the time," Lyra responded tiredly, pausing to look cautiously around a corner before continuing on. They had not come across any more of those drug-addled lunatics thus far, and though she preferred it that way it was becoming a bit unnerving. "Seems awfully quiet, hm?"

"Well, there's a Daddy stomping around the area," Calvin replied with a shrug. "I probably wouldn't hang around either."

"Daddy?" Lyra repeated, glancing back and lifting an eyebrow.

"Big ole boy, made of metal? Reduced some poor sploicer's 'ead to a fine paste with our way outta here?" Phineas supplied.

"Ah," she said, facing forward again. "I'm going to assume that 'sploicers' are the rabid junkies, then?"

Calvin snorted and corrected, "_Splicers_. I guess it'd be handy for us to explain some of this shit, huh?" The girl glanced back and nodded, and Bianca looked up from her sulking with some interest. "Alright, well, there's some basic stuff you should know, like, uh – ah."

He trailed off and moved forward with purpose, passing Lyra and coming to a stop before a large rectangular something. It lit up somewhat reluctantly as he gave it a sound tap with his knuckles and it became apparent that it was a vending machine of some sort.

"Got any cash on you?" the dark-headed male asked nobody in particular as the group approached, leaning casually against the machine.

Phineas held up a finger and reached into his bag, rummaging around a bit before withdrawing with a wrench in hand. Calvin opened his mouth to object but moved preemptively out of the way as, predictably, the Irishman ignored him and swung at the glass. It shattered, of course, but the momentum of his swing carried through and smashed the few remaining bottles of viscous, neon-red liquid, leaving only one intact.

"Well, that wasn't very clever of you," Bianca remarked dryly as Calvin groaned loudly.

"Eat me," he replied cheerfully.

Before any actual confrontation could erupt, Calvin reached carefully through the shattered pane of glass and grabbed the luminescent bottle, holding it up. "_This_," he began, looking pointedly at Bianca as she opened her mouth to retort. She shut her mouth and he continued, "This is a plasmid. It's sort of a… staple of living in Rapture. It kind of gives you super powers." These last words were rushed and sheepish, as though he were embarrassed to be saying something that he himself found unbelievable. He examined the bottle in his hand and his muddy green eyes flickered back to the girls. "This one says it'll give you telekinesis."

Phineas' eyes stayed trained on Lyra and Bianca, gauging their reactions as his friend spoke. Bianca seemed a little skeptical, though not entirely disbelieving as she had been before. Lyra's face was inscrutable, however, as she listened silently.

"And how exactly is this possible?" Bianca asked slowly, her expression cautious. "I mean… telekinesis? You must know how this sounds."

"Crazy, I know. See, I don't know all the science behind this stuff, just the practical application and how to move large quantities of it on the street. But I do know that none of it would be possible without this stuff called ADAM," he said. The brunette pricked up – he had mentioned this 'ADAM' before. "That little girl that was with the Big Daddy earlier? Near as I can figure, she's an ADAM factory. Got somethin' inside her that manufactures ADAM from… somethin', I dunno."

"And those things are called splicers because…?" Lyra prompted, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh. Uh, these-" he held up the glowing bottle in demonstration "-plasmids rewrite your genetic code when they're used. Splice in their own code or whatever. Well, you use enough of them and something's bound to get fucked up, right?"

Bianca looked at the bottle, brow furrowed as she considered all of this. Using children to collect this precious ADAM of theirs… Now she knew what that man, Ryan, had meant about 'petty morality', there was no way any of this would have been allowed on the surface. Still, as despicable and dangerous as it was, she could see the allure…

"So, just one of these plasmids… it shouldn't be a problem, right?" she asked, ignoring the incredulous look she received from Lyra. "I mean, you wouldn't turn into one of them, right?"

"As far as we know, one won't make your skin rot off," Phineas told her. "Personally, I don't recommend it, though. Great power, great responsibility and all that. It's addictive."

"Bianca, you can't seriously be considering this. You saw those things, they weren't even human-"

"Look," Bianca interrupted, holding up a hand to quiet her friend. "I'd like to make it home alive and, quite frankly, I'm the most useless person here. Apparently you're _Derringer Daphne_ or something and these two can obviously fire a gun, but if I get separated from you…"

"It's up to you, Bianca," Calvin told her with a shrug. "It shouldn't be something that you need to worry about – I think I speak for everyone when I say we have no intention of leaving you behind. If it would make you feel safer, though, it's yours."

She gave a quick nod and reached out for the bottle, hesitating for a second before grabbing it. Her fingers trembled as she pulled the cork out, discovering that a syringe was built into the cap. She pulled back the plug, filling it, and glanced around as she squeezed the air out and set the bottle aside. Lyra was watching intently, clearly ready to jump in if anything went wrong, but neither Phineas or Calvin seemed at all concerned, which was probably reassuring on some level.

Bianca regretted her decision the instant the needle pierced her flesh and a slow burning twisted up her arm, searing through her veins, and continued regretting it when she woke up an hour later with a throbbing headache and a large bruise on her leg indicating that no one had caught her when she fainted. She sat up and groaned, rubbing her head sorely before glancing around for her friends.

Only Phineas was immediately visible as she lifted her head and peered around, though she caught sight of Lyra and Calvin a little ways away dozing in chairs. She had been moved, obviously, as she didn't recognize the area they were in, and the redhead seemed to be keeping watch until he noticed Bianca stirring.

"Mornin', sleeping beauty," he said cheerfully, moving to sit beside her hand offering her a bottle of expensive-looking brandy. Though he seemed nonchalant enough, his eyes betrayed a bit of anxiety as he looked her over in what he probably hoped to be an inconspicuous manner. "How ya feelin'?"

"Shitty," she snapped, reaching over and snatching the brandy from him, noticing that he winced a little more than he might have if it had been only from fear. Her eyes trailed up his arm and she noted a bloody tear in his sleeve revealing a somewhat nasty gash. The brunette gestured with her bottle, arcing an eyebrow and asking, "What happened to you?"

"Oh." He ran a hand absently over the cut and shrugged. "Our luck didn't hold out while we were moving. Found some splicers and they attacked us." He thumbed his nose and smirked, adding, "This is just a scratch – you should see the other guy."

She almost laughed at that, but managed to stifle it with a generous swig of alcohol and shot him the most disapproving look she could muster without snickering. The brunette handed back the bottle and said, "So… this place is trashed, and so is our bathysphere. Where do we go from here?"

The redhead slumped forward a bit and heaved a sigh, shaking his head. "Rapture is huge… you saw. There's got to be a part that hasn't been destroyed, or at least another working bathysphere station. I reckon we… keep walkin', see what we find first," he replied, although he didn't seem terribly certain himself. His whiskey eyes shifted over to the girl watching him with an unhopeful expression and he said in a low voice, "I'm sorry for bringin' you lot down here. I _thought_… No, that's the problem. I didn't think."

"Why did you want to come back in the first place?" Bianca asked, shaking her head. "I understand that it's your home, but… what?"

The brunette looked up somewhat irately as the man let out a bark of laughter and stifled it quickly. He leveled a gaze at her and told her quite seriously, "It's nothing like that; I hate this place. Present state of things may be considered an improvement. I've got a debt to settle up on, nothin' more."

She stared at him somewhat incredulously as she tried to wrap her head around his admission. To be fair, he had not once told her that he intended to _stay_ in Rapture once he got there, but that had been the assumption she was operating under until they actually found the place. Still, she couldn't imagine what sort of debt he owed that could only be repaid at the bottom of the ocean, which would have been difficult even if he _didn't_ profess to hate the place.

Bianca did not have time to inquire further, however, as Phineas stood up, effectively ending their conversation, and said, "Best be movin' on, aye?"

She gave a small nod and watched his bloodstained back as he went over to the other two members of their little band and dumped Calvin unceremoniously out of his chair and onto the floor. The resulting yell was enough to wake Lyra, who jolted awake and looked around fearfully before Phineas said something in her ear that Bianca could not hear and she laughed. Another vague pang of uneasiness hit her as she observed their easy familiarity as Calvin sat up and snapped at them and they laughed once more. It wasn't even that she didn't trust Phineas, not anymore. Something about their fast friendship just _bothered_ her and she could not place her finger on what it was.

"Well, you're alive," Calvin observed as he approached the brunette, a sour look still lingering on his face. "Started getting a little worried after the first ten minutes, but I suppose everyone's going to have a different reaction to these things… Glad you're alright, anyways."

"Thanks," she grumbled, pushing herself into a standing position and brushing off the seat of her trousers.

"So, how is it?" When his question was met with a blank stare, the shorter man raised his left hand and wiggled his fingers at her. "You know. The thing."

"Oh. Oh! You know, I haven't tried it yet," she said thoughtfully as they rejoined Phineas and Lyra. The two seemed to be arguing about which way they had come from until Bianca interrupted, "Hey lady."

Her blonde friend whirled on her immediately, her argument with Phineas forgotten, and seized Bianca by the shoulders. "Oh, thank God. Don't do that to me, B, I will not be left alone down here with these savages," she said emphatically, casting a dubious look over her shoulder at a smirking Phineas.

"I wouldn't _dream_ of it," Bianca assured her and allowed herself to be pulled in one direction as Phineas protested halfheartedly. Arm in arm with her blonde compatriot, she raised her hand to look at it a little closer and was surprised to find that there was a shimmering distortion extending from her fingertips up her arm. Flexing, she pouted to herself when nothing seemed to be happening and asked, "How do I use it, anyways?"

Behind them, Phineas frowned slightly and responded, "Dunno, I always figured it'd be sort've instinctive."

"Congratulations, you're not helpful," she told him, extending her arm experimentally and trying to pick something up with her mind. It did not work.

They continued on like that for a minute or so, Phineas making increasingly ridiculous suggestions and Bianca gradually caving and trying them out to amuse the group. Eventually, she saw a scrap of paper flutter a bit and instantly regretted the idiotic pirouette she had just attempted at Lyra's suggestion, hoping desperately that she wouldn't have to replicate it every time she wanted to use her power. The relief that washed over her when she realized that she had not been the one to move the paper was short-lived, however, as a splicer with a revolver dangling from his fingertips stepped out of the shadows, rustling the paper once more as he did.

"Shit," she hissed, freezing in place with her eyes on the splicer. She felt a hand on hers and grunted as she was pulled to the ground behind an overturned table just as a gunshot rang in her ears. Someone let out a howl of pain, which was quickly followed by hysterical laughter on the other side of the barrier and labored breathing at her side.

Calvin lay on the ground beside her, teeth gritted as he clutched his shoulder where the splicer's gunshot had hit him. Phineas and Lyra were a few yards away, crouching behind another flipped table. Neither seemed to have been hurt as Lyra leaned around and took a rushed shot at the splicer, who had been joined by two more cackling specters.

"This is _not_ how I planned on spending my afternoon," Calvin snarled, pulling himself up and bracing himself against the table with his gun at the ready.

"Nor I, pal," the redhead responded. He peeked over his table and ducked again as a few shots whizzed over his head. It was obvious that he was looking for a way out, and equally obvious that he had found none. "Alright, here's what we'll do… I'll run past them, and…"

"They shoot you down and come after us anyway?" Lyra finished for him, turning to him and lifting an eyebrow. "Come on, Phineas, I thought you were smarter than that. Don't even think about it or I'll shoot you myself."

"Can you keep firing?" Bianca asked, more to Calvin than anyone due to his injuries, but Lyra glanced over and nodded along with him before they both demonstrated. "Great," the brunette muttered, backing off the table a bit and eyeing it hesitantly. "This had better work."

As it turned out, fear of death was a reasonably good motivator. This time when she raised her hand and extended her fingers, the table whipped itself out from behind her wounded companion to hover in the air between herself and several duly alarmed splicers. Another minute flick of the wrist sent the table sailing into the trio of deformed men, knocking them down and pinning them.

"Cheers!" Phineas called over to her, grinning ear to ear as he stood up. He glanced down at Lyra unhurriedly and asked, "Mind if I borrow that, love?" She handed his gun up to him and moved to attend to Calvin as Phineas checked the wheel for ammunition, grinned, and flicked it back into place. Bianca watched as the splicers pushed the table off of them and scrambled to stand, only to be dropped again, one by one, each with a hole right between the eyes.

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**Okay, so I realize that the ending is really really abrupt, and I'm definitely aware of this fact and apologetic about it, but I had actually written quite a bit more and decided to cut it here and deal with what comes next in the next chapter. I _might_ end up coming back and editing it to make it seem less like I dropped a paragraph or whatever, but no promises.**

**Regardless, I know I say this at the end of every chapter, but critique is always appreciated. I guess it kind of sucks to look at the traffic chart and see hundreds of views carrying through each chapter but nobody has anything to say about whether they like it or dislike it or would like to see something changed or noticed something that doesn't make sense/isn't addressed or whatever. Basically, I proofread before I post, but in my experience I'm more likely to overlook errors in my own writing than in someone else's. Oy. I probably sound like I'm panhandling for compliments, sorry, that isn't my intention. I'll quit while I'm ahead.**


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